Camera Shy

I never let anyone take my picture if I can get away with it. And I mean never. I think that in the last 5 years I have probably only had my picture taken knowingly and willing 4 or 5 times and each of these were in large groups where I am standing in the back, barely recognizable.

Every time I see someone with a camera I feel squeamish and become instantly paranoid that someone is trying to take my picture. Being on webcam is enough to make me sick quite honestly. I have friends from all over the country who want to skype and such. To avoid this I searched high and low and bought the only laptop model I could find without a webcam already installed.

I am like this for many reasons, chief among them being forced to pose for many, many pictures when I was younger that no child should ever have to do. Also my old school Navajo grandmother used to tell me stories about how the Navajo originally believed that cameras would steal the soul of the person posing for the picture. Haha I miss her.

i also feel the same way. sometimes i even think that i have a sensor for people who take my photos without my permission, because i would automatically turn away from the camera. i do have a lot of group pictures, yet i tend to stay at the borders. but i have never taken a photo of myself for a profile picture like most teens do ( know a lot of people who post dozens of albums with just their faces), because i don't think i'm pretty enough to post a photo of my face to the world. I have also experienced your webcam dilemma. my dad's working abroad so the only way to communicate is through skype, and whenever we chatted i never show my face to him, which he remarks as very disrespectful of me to hide from him with no proper reason. even so, i just can't get myself to stand in front of a camera with a beaming smile, even if i try.

being camera shy is a matter of low self-esteem. i have carried this problem which started when i was seven years old. some tell me that my esteem can still be improved, but up until now, ten years after, i am still my old shy self.

i still try my best to be more confident and overcome shyness, and it's really hard for me.

i hope you are also working on overcoming camera shyness. you've already made one big step by sharing your story , and inspiring me to share mine too. :)

ps. sorry for the very long response. it's rare to come across people with the same story. pps. keep on smiling even without the cameras! :)